Volkswagen Vario II

If you were to open the September 1991 issue of Popular Mechanics and turn to page 12, you'd see at the very bottom of the page a cheeky-looking acid yellow Volkswagen.

The Mountain Dew-piss Vario I, with its mad-patterned upholstery, was the one the editors chose to illustrate a caption for both Vario I and II. They said:

"Designed by German art students and built under a Volkswagen-funded "Fun Car" project, the Vario I and its sister concept car Vario II will feature four-wheel drive, offer a variety of engine options, and rest on the already-proven VW Golf Syncro chassis.

“VW could offer the bare platform for sale to specialist body makers for building low-volume niche cars."

Oh, ok then, whatever you say, Popular Mechanics…

Volkswagen would lend its chassis to specialist body makers? Sure.

As if that would ever happen. Thing is, with the company’s once-new MQB platforms and various joint ventures (collectors, get your unobtainium Chinese Volkswagens soon), it’s a trend that did play out.

The “low volume niche cars” ended up being multi-billion dollar joint ventures.

What Art Center College students came up with in 1991, though, were more extreme, and when I say extreme — I really mean niche: one Vario I beach car and, in the case of the Vario II, a convertible-coupe with retractable hard top and rumble seat.

Hard to imagine either of these concepts, now, in the days of everything-is-the-same Volkswagen, isn't it?

(And hard to imagine having a hard surface for the rear passengers to whack their heads off of during hard braking…)

As a coupe, with the roof up…I could swear I had a Transformers toy that looked just like this…

I still can't figure out how the top works exactly — I think the second opening for the rumble seat is throwing me off. Beyond the mechanism being stacked behind the rear-rear seats, I am unsure as to the mechanical trickery underneath.

And the seal going down the T-top beam, between the seats? What?

If you’re near the Volkswagen Auto Museum (Stiftung Automuseum Volkswagen) in Wolfsburg, tell them I gave you permission to request a demonstration. ;)

Anyway, if this had the standard Golf Syncro drivetrain, as given by a few sources, you’re looking at 97 horsepower, all-wheel-drive, and a top speed of 170 km/h (105 mph).

I think it'd be a pretty entertaining car, sort of like a lower and better-handling Suzuki X90.

It seems as though these sorts of wild, manufacturer-sponsored student vehicles are few and far between these days, and that's a shame. I wonder if things would have been a little different if students from Generation X had known what they do now.